Energy Storage Leader Sunverge Energy Meets HECO's New Solar Technology Standards

Sunverge systems add high-capacity storage to solar rooftop installations, allowing customers to capture the power they generate and, thanks to built-in intelligence, automatically use it when demand and energy prices are highest. In Hawaii, which already has some of the highest electric rates in the nation, these Time-of-Use rates will make Sunverge's cost-saving technology even more valuable to consumers.

In addition, Sunverge's storage technology is key to taking advantage of the Customer Self Supply tariff approved by the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission (PUC) last October. That tariff was designed for customers who want to use all the power generated by their solar panels themselves and do not intend to export excess power to the grid. Applications for interconnection of self-supply installations in areas with high levels of PV (photovoltaics) will be expedited by HECO.

Based on a typical Hawaii home load profile and the state PUC's proposed time-of-use rates in Oahu, Sunverge customers who select the Customer Self Supply option can save up to 80 percent on their monthly power bill and realize the return on their solar and energy storage investment in as few as seven years*.

"We've been evaluating the benefits of distributed storage since 2012," said Chris Reynolds, System Operations Manager at Maui Electric, a subsidiary of Hawaiian Electric. "Such intelligent energy storage will play a vital role in our goal to generate 100 percent of Hawaii's energy from renewable sources."

Customer Self Supply is likely to become a preferred option for many customers, particularly because of limits to the alternative solar tariff known as Customer Grid Supply, which is similar to the state's former Net Energy Metering (NEM) arrangement. Customer Grid Supply pays customers a reduced amount versus NEM for any energy exported to the grid, and is capped by the state PUC at 25 MW of distributed solar on Oahu, 5 MW on Maui, Lanai and Molokai, and 5 MW on the Big Island of Hawaii. Those levels are likely to be reached by the end of 2016 or early 2017.

"HECO's plans for reaching a 100 percent renewable energy portfolio by 2045 include increasing rooftop solar installations by more than 250 percent from current levels," said Ken Munson, co-founder and CEO of Sunverge Energy. "Intelligent energy storage systems in a virtual power plant model will play a critical role in efficiently and cost-effectively managing this distributed generation. We estimate solar customers can recoup their energy storage investment within seven years through significantly lower monthly energy bills."

Sunverge designs and manufactures advanced intelligent energy storage systems that allow utilities to automatically execute demand response programs on an individual customer level or link them into "Virtual Power Plants" to meet peak energy demand across an entire community or service area. This unprecedented level of coordination, provided via a flexible cloud-based platform, will make possible the transition to Power-as-a-Service and more intelligent, automatic and efficient management of distributed energy resources.

The Sunverge energy storage systems are available in Hawaii through local installers Alternate Energy, Haleakala Solar, RevoluSun, Rising Sun Solar and Sunetric.

About Sunverge Energy

San Francisco-based Sunverge Energy allows homeowners efficient management of their own renewable energy generation and helps utilities, retailers and solar power providers manage those renewable power sources and aggregate them into Virtual Power Plants across neighborhoods, communities and entire service areas — reliably, effectively and intelligently. Founded in 2009, the company makes the Sunverge Solar Integration System (SIS), a distributed energy storage and management appliance comprised of powerful storage batteries, power electronics, and system-management software running in the cloud. The Sunverge SIS lowers costs, increases energy reliability, strengthens the grid, and accelerates the adoption and integration of distributed renewable energy. Investors include AGL, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), Kokam, MITSUI & Co., Siemens Venture Capital, Softbank China Venture Capital (SBCVC), Total Energy Ventures International and VisIR. For more information, please visit www.sunverge.com.

* Bill reductions range from 50 percent to 80 percent depending on load size and system configuration, with payback on investment occurring in as few as seven years. Analysis is based on HECO IR-17 proposed tariffs.

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SOURCE Sunverge Energy

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